I'm the Assassin, you're the Detective
by Adriana Espan
Summary: Tsuna is master assassin while Hibari is master detective. Born to be natural enemies, one is destined to defeat the other. Tsuna wasn't supposed to make Hibari fall in love with him unknowingly, nor was he supposed to fall back in love himself. This all just leads to one big tragedy. 1827.
1. First Encounter

**Disclaimer: I do not own KHR.**

**Cause every author needs a story that is never going to be completed. I name this Experimental fic #1, which, to me, means those stories which are very long and thus will take a long time to complete kind, but I do try to finish my stories even if it's going to take 20 years… unless I totally lost interest. Teehee. **

**Pardon for the mix of tenses, I just write what comes natural to me.**

* * *

**I. Introduction: First Encounter **

"Are you sure we're calling _him_?" A police officer said to his superior in the office, voice full of reluctance and uncertainty. They all knew _him_, and while he was a miracle worker and a genius, no one actually liked working with him unless necessary.

The superior glared, which made the police officer gulp a little. "What can we do? It's _the _Assassin we're talking about. The one and only Arancione! We've been trying to catch him for ages, but to no avail. Not to mention he has attacked one of the important ministers! The next thing we know, he might just assassinate the President! This absolutely cannot go on. Unless you have any better ideas to suggest?" _Do I look like I want to call him? _

"…Yes sir. I'll contact him."

The superior watched as the police officer rushed out of the room in an attempt to escape his wrath, slightly, just slightly, taking pleasure that he could still scare people out of their wits if he wanted too.

The man shook his head to clear his mind and let out a deep sigh. He could feel a headache coming already. He hadn't slept for god knows how long, just to work on this case and still not finding any leads. He stared at the warning letter given to the victim to look for any clues, only to find none.

_Massimiliano __Melinno,_

_Prepare to face your death 7 days later. Do not try to hide, for I will always find you and kill you._

—_Arancione_

How very scary and threatening. He knew all the words are true as this kind of incidents have happened countless times before, and Arancione would always fulfil his promise without getting caught.

He massaged his head and tried to ignore the throbbing pain in his head. This was becoming extremely difficult.

* * *

"Where did he go? I saw him right there!" Police officers were scattered all around, trying to find the assassin who was there just moments ago.

"Shut up herbivores, and actually go and search!" A man growled, glaring at the people who were panicking. He wasn't helping, since he had only made them panic even more.

Said man was scanning the room, trying to locate a place that could allow a person to hide, or a secret passageway, but instead finding none.

This man, was Hibari Kyoya, a well-known detective. In fact, he was said to be the best. However, he had a very bad temper, and kept threatening to bite everyone he saw to death. Especially the useless rookies who were absolutely unable to do anything whatsoever. Nevertheless, that didn't mean that the higher-ups weren't scared of him.

Some people said that Hibari was like Sherlock Holmes reincarnate. Yes, he was that good in solving cases. He even got the antisocial behaviour and attitude. In fact, he was even _worse _than Sherlock Holmes. At least Sherlock was not violent, nor does he bite people to death. However, he was still needed for investigations, even though people were so scared of him they couldn't possibly do anything.

Yet, for all his genius, the master detective could not find a trace of Arancione. It was as if he disappeared into thin air.

What was special about this Arancione was not because he was an assassin. There were tons of hired assassins in the Mafia world. However, no one has ever seen him before, or known of his identity. The most important thing of all, was that he would always leave a note 7 days before he assassinate anyone. Yet, he could still break through all the defences and preparations and the target would always get killed without fail. It was truly amazing, if we disregard the fact that we were talking about human lives here. Not to mention that he has one hundred percent accuracy.

However, it was known that he only accepted requests that targeted those who committed crimes, although it was a rumour that is unconfirmed. But there's no such thing as an assassin who does good, right?

No one ever caught a glimpse of him. He was like a shadow in the darkness, gone before you could have a good look at him. They didn't even know Arancione's gender, thus it was not impossible that Arancione was actually a girl. Nobody knows.

This time round, Arancione assassinated a leader of a renown company. The target had confessed to the police about all the wrongs he had done, and was willing to go to jail and accept his punishment, instead of getting killed by Arancione. He had some illegal trades, threatened many, and did some other illegal things for the sake of economic benefits throughout his successful career.

The police only tried to help him because they desperately wanted to catch Arancione as he was getting out of hand, and was going to send him to jail after the whole affair was finished. If he didn't die before then, that was.

They had waited to ambush the Assassin, but it was apparently impossible to ambush him. As mentioned before, he was like a shadow. Just now, all everyone saw was black and the target collapsed. Just like that, he was dead. Many things happened at once. Medical attention was immediately given to the victim.

The black shadow disappeared, and nothing was left in the place where he was a few seconds ago.

Hibari looked for wounds on the victim, only finding one at the back of right shoulder blade, which apparently pierced through the heart. A fatal blow, and extremely accurate.

As expected of a master assassin.

Which brings us to the confusion stated right at the beginning. Every police officer was trying to find the mysterious assassin. After searching the whole room and finding no trace of him, Hibari concluded that the assassin has somehow already escaped, even if Hibari didn't know how he did so. He ran out of the house and tried to find out where he could have gone.

As Hibari rushed out the door, he conveniently stopped a random passerby carrying shopping bags and asked, "Sorry, did you see a suspicious-looking person in black? Perhaps with a cloak?"

The passerby looked a bit startled at the sudden question, his round, innocent brown eyes widened a little. Scratching his head that was full of his brown spiky hair, he finally answered, "Eh? A suspicious-looking person in black? I think… I think I saw one man in black running in that direction just now."

The brunette pointed to the direction behind him.

Without even sparing a second glance or thanking the man, Hibari just rushed off to chase the assassin.

He ran in the direction the brunette had kindly pointed out to him but, _damn, _there were simply too many people on the streets. He wouldn't be able to find Arancione at this rate, with him trying to search for him through this kind of crowd. Furthermore, Arancione was a professional assassin, and he would have many ways to escape and disguise himself from the public's eyes. Hibari gritted his teeth in annoyance. He had never met such a troublesome criminal before, and so skilful at that. How did he disappear like that?

But where, where could he be hiding? Shops? No, there would be no place to run if he was found. If he were on the streets, he would have been found already, since Hibari highly doubted that he was inconspicuous. Unless, of course, he changed out of his assassin attire and blended in like a normal citizen, which meant that it would be near impossible to find him. Too little clues, too little clues…

Hibari suddenly stopped in the middle of his run, facing an alley that was a dead-end. There was no sign of any man who had passed the place and no one could have escaped from here.

At the end of day, Hibari came back to the crime scene empty-handed, and he was not a happy man. Well, he was giving such an intimidating aura that most people just fled for their own safety before he even came close. He could only investigate the crime scene to find anymore possible clues at this moment, and wait for Arancione to strike again.

This marks the start of a game of cat and mouse. Will the cat catch the mouse and bite it to death… who knows.

* * *

**P.S. Arancione means orange in Italian. I spent a lot of time thinking of that name. **

**Comments are appreciated. **


	2. We meet again

**Note: Setting is Sicily, Italy. (I have never been to Italy, so I'm not quite sure what I'm writing. I'm somehow basing the places on my imagination of 1900s England. You know, those places that look really run-down and old and lots of alleys. Victorian houses too.)**

**Will not bring in Vongola, and warning of OOC Tsuna. **

**Disclaimer: As usual, do not own anything.**

* * *

This was the third time, the third time that Arancione had escaped from his clutches. Anger flared within Hibari.

How humiliating.

No one had actually disappeared from his sight like that before, and it was annoying how that assassin did it so easily, making Hibari felt as if he was being mocked at. No plan had successfully deterred Arancione's escape.

He was, however, glad – as glad as Hibari could ever be, which was probably not very glad – to say that he getting better and closer every time. (More like the sense of satisfaction that a predator feels when it gets nearer and nearer to the prey.) He could catch a longer glimpse of Arancione, and it seemed as if he had more difficulty trying to escape. He just needed a better and more elaborate plan… and hopefully better police officers to work with. That useless bunch of people only got in the way of his hard work.

Next time, Hibari would be sure to get him.

* * *

He ran, as fast as he could, so fast that he could feel the wind rushing past his face as he navigated through the streets of Sicily. He was in the middle of escaping from a detective after finishing his latest assassination.

How did the detective manage to follow him so far?

Well, in his defense, he had never expected to be caught in the middle of his escape. He was getting too complacent, probably. Now Plan A was gone, and he may or may not have had a Plan B.

He mentally imagined the map of Sicily in his mind, mapping out all the possible routes of escape. The only thing he could see were dead ends, dead ends and more dead ends. _Damn it, he's good. He's forcing me to escape this way, which leads to tons of dead ends. _The assassin sighed as he turned to see the figure chasing after him, inching dangerously close.

No one had ever been so close to catching him, and he didn't really want anyone to do that again.

_Kyoya Hibari. _He must do a thorough research on the detective when he gets back to his house. If he ever managed to get back, that was to say.

He noticed that he was reaching a crossroad. Where should he go? Left, ambush. Probably front too, and there was no turning back, of course. Not with the scary detective chasing after him, because frankly speaking, he would rather face the army of police officers than that one guy.

He turned right, and continued to run at his fastest speed, hoping to get the detective off his back.

He frowned. He couldn't want to continue like this, and he would like to avoid a direct fight with Hibari without knowing his background.

Come on. Think of something… Anything.

An idea suddenly flashed through his mind.

Ah…

_That_. That could work, no matter how reluctant he was to execute the plan.

Well, while he didn't want the situation to end up like this, it seemed like he had little choice. Looks like he was going to have a trip to the police station.

* * *

Hibari watched as the assassin turned right, and if his memory served to be correct, that area was more secluded.

"What? Who– Don't! Hiiiieeee!" A scream – more like a very high-pitched shriek that could make people deaf – tore through the air, and the source was exactly in the direction of where Arancione had gone.

_What did he—_

Hibari increased his speed to catch up with him. When he finally reached the turn, all Hibari saw was a shadow which jumped over the walls, with the cape flowing down. In a blink of an eye, it was gone.

… Then he turned his gaze onto the person lying on the ground, blood pooling around his chest and leg. There was no other person in sight, and for all his well-known cold-heartedness, Hibari couldn't ignore an injured civilian and let him die while he chased down a criminal. Furthermore, it looked like there was no progress on this day either, even if he was nearly there. (He needed to think of another plan, _again_.)

Hibari narrowed his eyes in recognition as he took a closer inspection of the injured person. To his surprise, it was the same brown-haired passerby he had encountered when he was chasing after Arancione on the first case. "You."

_Him. He was surely linked to the whole thing. __There is no such thing as coincidence_, _just the illusion of coincidence itself_. _He could very well be a new lead to the case._

"Mis… Mis… ter…" The young man gritted out in pain.

Hibari moved forward to examine his wounds. It was best to send him to the hospital immediately, and interrogate him afterwards. While Hibari was tempted to demand answers right there, the man seemed incapable of talking in that kind of pain, and a living man was more useful than a dead one.

_Troublesome herbivores. Bite to death later. _

"Name, herbivore?"

The young man looked up, brown eyes as round as ever, but now turning slightly watery due to the pain.

"My name… is…" He paused as a wave of pain crashed through his body, and sucked in a deep, painful breath.

"… Tsuna- Tsunayoshi… Sawada..."

* * *

—_Hospital_

Tsuna bit his lips in pain as the nurse help him clean his wounds. They stung! Why on earth did this happen again? For god's sake, he really hated his life.

In his pain, he noticed that a police officer walked in, along with the detective who had helped to bring him to the hospital.

"I see that you're awake now." The police officer started. "Nice to meet you, I'm Inspector Tetsuya Kusakabe, currently looking into the case regarding the assassin Arancione."

Tsuna grimaced while trying to smile through the pain. "Nice to meet– ouch! Lighter, please!– you, I'm Tsunayoshi Sawada."

"Mr. Sawada, is it? Here is my companion, Hibari Kyoya. He is a well-known detective helping me with this case." Kusakabe gestured to the man beside him who didn't bother to talk at all.

"Ah! Detective Hibari, thank you so much saving me and sending me to the hospital. How do I thank–" A glare was sent his way, and Tsuna faltered off mid-sentence.

"Don't mind him! He may look very scary but he won't bite– er I meant he won't hurt you, I'm sure. There's no need to thank us, too, it's really just our job."

"O- Okay…"

"May I request to ask you a few questions, Mr. Sawada? To aid us on the case."

"Oh… Sure, I would be glad to help."

"Firstly, why were you in that place? It's quite a secluded area, no?"

"I'm sorry, I got lost while trying to get home…" Tsuna gave a sheepish smile, "I'm always very useless, I apologize."

Kusakabe took some notes. "I see… Can you describe to us what happened exactly?"

"It happened in a blur, and before I knew it, I was in pain and on the floor bleeding."

More scribbling. "Did you happen to see the person who attacked you?"

"The person…? No… I think he was wearing a black cloak or something, but he was so fast…"

"He? What makes you think that it was a 'he'?"

"The aura he was giving off? I'm not quite sure how to explain, but I would presume that the person was a male."

"I see… May I know what you were doing at 3.27pm that day?"

"Before the attack, you mean? Hmm, I was going home after my shift at work, and I wanted to find a shop to buy the ingredients, but somehow I got lost… Wait, am I being suspected? I swear, I don't know what was happening!" Tsuna panicked, waving his hands around, only to stop and wince when he realised he was injured.

"Rest assured, this is just standard procedure. Where do you work at? And when did your shift end?"

"I work at _Pâtisserie du Ciel_, you know, the pastry shop. We have really nice pastry! You guys should go there some time and I'll give you some pastry for free!" Tsuna gave a bright smile that very nearly blinded Kusakabe. He had to blink to get rid of the bright spots in his eyes. "Anyway, My shift ended at around 3pm, and I was tidying something up so I left the shop around ten minutes later. Then I got lost and attacked, I guess."

"So you left the shop at 3.10pm?" Kusakabe took a glance at Hibari, who did not change his expression for the past ten minutes or so.

Tsuna nodded. "Yes, but I didn't really check the time though."

"Thank you. Oh and the other time? When Hibari met you on the streets?"

"The time when… Oh! Yes, I remember. I wasn't sure if it was the same person though… both of them are too fast for my eyes."

"And the reason you were at that place?"

"I was going home after shopping."

"You live near there?"

"That district, yes."

"Okay… Anything else to ask, sir?" Kusakabe asked the detective.

"Hn."

"Thank you so much for your information and I apologize for any inconvenience caused. Do rest well and get well soon. We are going to take our leave now."

"Thank you! I hope you can catch the assassin soon!" Tsuna smiled as he watched the two of them leave. He then tried to lie down, only to wince as pain shot up from his chest.

Remind him again, why did he plunge a knife into his own chest and leg? Even if he knew that it wasn't going to be fatal – for he had experienced far worse than that – but the fact remained that it hurt as hell with stab wounds on his body deep enough to kill a normal person from blood loss if not treated. He did have an assassin image to maintain, and would not give anyone, even himself, half-assed wounds because that would damage his pride.

Damn that Hibari for chasing him. Whatever, what was done is done, and he would have to live with it. To think he had to pretend to be attacked by Arancione to protect his identity, since no one would actually even think that Arancione was him. Making them think that Arancione had escaped when he was in fact right under their eyes.

The only way to avoid suspicions was to make himself obvious and convince everyone that he was innocent. And not to forget the blinding smile and puppy eyes. Flowers and sparkles always work. _Always_.

In the future, however, he would have to tread carefully, and create lots of alibi, because Hibari would not be easy to fool. Even so, he was definitely not afraid of the police.

Oh well, two can play this game.

After all, Tsuna thought with a smirk unbefitting of the innocent image he was trying to create, he always loved a challenge.

* * *

"So what do you think, sir?" Kusakabe asked as they left the hospital.

"Suspicious, yet no evidence. We would have to let him go for now, but keep a close watch on him."

"Yes, sir."

* * *

—_Two weeks later_

"Sir, the information about Tsunayoshi Sawada that you wanted. He is an ordinary civilian, an orphan who grew up at an orphanage, and now works at the pastry shop Pâtisserie du Ciel. No suspicious events or previous criminal records."

Hibari didn't reply. Kusakabe was used to Hibari being like this and sighed. He was one of the few people who Hibari did not constantly lash out at or bite to death, so he was sent to deal with him whenever the police needed his assistance. Not a very good job, really. He only joined this case later on though, since he was still taking care of another one, but he was soon sent to be helping this case instead.

"… Sir. It's lunchtime now, are you going to eat? I heard Pâtisserie du Ciel is a really good shop. The cakes are very good… and it's nearby. Perhaps you could drop by there later?"

Well, what others didn't know was that Hibari had a sweet tooth. Kusakabe himself knew of it by chance too, catching Hibari bringing sweets to work and eating them.

"You can try talking to Mr. Sawada too, he's back to work now, to see if there are any new things you can discover about him?"

"Hn."

Kusakabe sighed, and decided that he was just going to leave the detective alone.

* * *

Hibari stood in front of the bustling shop which said _Pâtisserie du Ciel_. It must really have been a popular shop, for the people inside there were practically squeezing past one another to get in. Bother. Hibari wasn't there to buy pastry – or so he tells himself – but for work.

_Crowding herbivores! _

Hibari could feel the itch to take out his tonfas and bite everyone present to death already.

As if sensing the scary aura Hibari was leaking, the crowd parted ways for him and most people just scattered away upon his glare.

"Eh?" A brown-haired head who was previously drowned by the crowd peeked out, curious of the sudden decrease in people.

Tsuna met eyes with Hibari, and exclaimed, "Oh, is that Mr. Hibari? Welcome to Pâtisserie du Ciel! Are you here to buy some pastries?"

No reply.

Tsuna smiled amiably even as he looked around the now empty shop. "Are you trying to kill my business, Detective Hibari? Since you have scared away all my customers, why don't you compensate by buying all the pastry that would have otherwise been bought by those who you have so kindly chased out?"

"Herbivore." There was an annoyed edge to Hibari's voice.

"Haha, I was just kidding. But I can't give you free pastries now though, maybe next time." Tsuna said in a slightly nervous tone. "Although the bosses may be a bit angry… hmm… Oh well. What would you like to buy?"

Tsuna looked at Hibari expectantly.

"Do you want to look around first? Anyway, today's specials is _Éclair au Chocolat, _and they are nearly sold out already! The chocolate is only made from the best ingredients, and I promise you can't stop eating them. Or would you like to try our macarons? They are one of the best-selling pastries too! We have a variety of flavours, like caramel, raspberry, chocolate, vanilla, and even foie gras and matcha!"

"…Matcha?"

"Yes, matcha. You know, Japanese green tea?"

"I want that."

"Okay! Anything else? Come, there are also tarts, croissants, puits d'amour, brioche, mille-feuille…"

… And that was how Hibari managed to get two bags of pastry, to which even Tsuna was shocked. So sweet things were Hibari's weak spot?

When Hibari was paying for the pastries, Yamamoto walked in. "Yo, Tsuna! You can go for your lunch break now! I'll take over. Where's Hayato anyway? He's on this shift too right?"

Yamamoto looked around the patisserie to search for the familiar figure. "Eh? Does the shop look emptier than usual? Are there even customers?" He asked, highly puzzled.

Tsuna sweatdropped. _Can't you sense the scary aura coming from the person in front of me? _

"Hahahaha, I'm sure it's some game Boss is playing. Are you going for your break now?"

_So quick to dismiss the problem! Pray tell, why would anyone in their right mind chase away the customers of their shop? _Even after years of interacting with Yamamoto, Tsuna could never get over the weirdness of him.

Tsuna passed Hibari his change. "Thanks a lot, Takeshi. I'll be back soon. Oh, Hayato went out to settle some orders of materials, I think he will be back in around an hour?"

"Okay. See you later, Tsuna!"

"See you! Wait, Detective Hibari! Have you had your lunch?"

"No."

"Oh… do you want to have lunch with me, then? I know of a good Japanese restaurant nearby. My treat! Since I didn't get to give you free pastries. To thank you for saving me the other day."

"…"

Tsuna gave an eager smile. "I love the teriyaki chicken there, and it has extremely awesome Japanese desserts! Guaranteed the best in this area!"

"… Hn."

"Alright, let's go!"

* * *

—_Japanese Restaurant, __Shokuyoku o sosoru_

"A table for two, please." Tsuna told the waiter.

As the two of the them settled down in the table near the window, the waiter passed the menus to them.

"What would you like to order?" The waiter politely asked.

Tsuna didn't even bother to check the menu. "One teriyaki chicken don, and strawberry mochi ice cream as dessert, please."

Hibari flipped through the menu. "Tanuki soba and green tea ice cream."

"Sure. Any drinks?"

Tsuna replied, "Just water will do."

They watched as the waiter left with their orders.

"So, you are still chasing down the assassin? What was his name? Ara– Arancione, was it?"

"Yes."

"Haven't caught him yet?"

"No." Hibari glared, and Tsuna decided not to stray into this topic again. Thank god the food came at this moment.

"Hmmm, it's really good." Tsuna said as he ate a mouthful of chicken.

Hibari didn't say anything, but Tsuna could tell that the soba was delicious for him too. "… But don't worry, I'm sure you will catch him soon."

"Herbivore—" Hibari started.

"Do call me Tsuna, that's what everyone calls me. Can I call you Kyoya? Do you mind?"

Hibari shot him a scathing look, but otherwise did not comment.

Tsuna beamed. _I'll take that as a yes then. _

"Shut up."

"Well, there's a saying that goes first time is chance, second is coincidence, and third is fate. So it must be fate that brought us together!"

"Fate." Hibari scoffed. "I don't believe in fate."

"Haha, whether you believe in it or not, if it exists, it will still exist."

"Your leg." Hibari suddenly said.

"My leg? Oh, my injuries are now better, don't worry. Thank you for your concern though." Tsuna flashed a dazzling smile. _I didn't know you cared._

Hibari 'hmph'ed and looked away.

_Such a kuudere!_

* * *

"Thank you so much for the meal, Kyoya. It's been my pleasure to meet you, and thank you so much for saving me last time." Tsuna said before he went into the patisserie.

When Tsuna went back to work, Hibari did not actually leave, but only observed from afar and out of sight as Tsuna worked, welcoming customers and helping them.

From the conversation they had over lunch (not really a conversation since it was quite one-sided), he could tell that Tsuna was really innocent, kind and cheerful, and it seemed unlikely for him to be an assassin. However, given years of practice, Hibari had a hunch that Tsuna was linked to the whole thing in some ways or another.

Now, Hibari would have to wait, but he was never known for his patience.

Arancione was difficult to catch, but Hibari would never let anyone escape him.

Hibari turned his attention back to Tsuna, his glare so sharp it could possibly burn a hole through him, and watched as Tsuna welcomed another customer with his customary smile that can blind eyes.

_Either Sawada Tsunayoshi was really innocent, or he was just a very good actor._

* * *

**A/N: I might have forgotten to mention that this will not be a happy ending. Hmm. Next update will hopefully be in October…? **

**Note: **_**Pâtisserie du Ciel **_**translates to pastry (shop) of the sky/heaven (IMO), or pastry heaven, or so Google translate says. French is actually my third language. Well, what is a French shop doing in Italy? I don't know, international brand, probably. In canon, Hibari's favorite food is Japanese food. **

**Why is Tsuna so fluffy and sparkly? Er to convince the police that he is innocent, but um, I assure you that he won't be so '^-^' in the future. The real Tsuna is darker, but he's a good person inside and he still bears resemblance to the canon Tsuna, just slyer and things. **

**There was a quote from **_**V for Vendetta**_**.**

**Tsuna addresses everyone as their first names because they are in Italy? And I want Tsuna to call Hibari by his first name ASAP.**

**The Sky and his Sun will be updated after this. **

_**Shokuyoku o sosoru**_**: ****食欲をそそる****, ****appetizing**

* * *

**OMAKE**

—_In the hospital, during the interrogation _

Tsuna blinked, innocence practically radiating from him.

Kusakabe blinked. Was he hallucinating or did Tsuna have really moe eyes that seemed to be on the verge of tears? Why were there sparkles?! He turned around subtly to see Hibari's reaction.

On the outside, Hibari seemed to be as calm as ever, but Kusakabe knew from experience that Hibari was affected, as his eyes were slightly twitching. Wait… didn't Hibari have a soft spot for… cute animals? This one in front of him was certainly cute enough.

This totally didn't bode well.


End file.
